The regular season has come to a close. Even though teams still played 18 games, doing so in six weeks felt like quite the sprint. This Split should only make fans more excited about the 27 games in nine weeks during the summer. Now the Spring Playoffs begin with teams having a chance to not only win the LCS but go to MSI in Iceland. Here is a look at the first LCS Playoff Edition Power Rankings.
[Related: Predicting Team Liquid’s All-Pro Awards for Spring 2021]
The loss to CLG felt like an expected one for some reason. Maybe it was just that weird feeling when the best team randomly loses but even after arguably winning the draft C9 still lost. Luckily they made up for it and roll into playoffs winning their last two games including a big win over Dignitas. This team has clearly been doing some limit testing but they are also currently the best team when they play at their best. For that reason, they are the favorites to head to Iceland and it is doubtful that 100 Thieves will do anything to change anyone’s minds on that this weekend.
Week 6 finally saw Team Liquid in their top form for the season. They played smart League of Legends and finished with a 3-0 weekend. What was even more promising was that they were able to take down three current playoffs teams to accomplish this in Dignitas, Evil Geniuses and 100 Thieves. Now they will be up against a TSM team that 2-0’ed them this Spring. TL will need to make less mistakes and draft better in order to take down the strong squad. Otherwise, they will end up sliding down these rankings pretty quickly.
Had TSM 3-0’ed the weekend they could be challenging for the top spot in this ranking. Alas, they lost a game to Evil Geniuses where they seemed unfocused. This was a major part of the weekend for TSM where they played sloppily but still went 2-1. That is good and bad but one would expect that they will be hyper-focused now that playoffs will be starting. Their matchup against TL will definitely be one to watch and even if they lose then they get to dodge Dignitas who have had their number this season.
Even after a rough weekend, Dignitas are still in the playoffs and coming off a good win against FlyQuest. The question for them and the two teams below them will be whether any of them can upset the top three teams? Currently, that answer is, no. That said Dignitas definitely can go toe to toe with them and their flexibility in nearly every role will make nailing them down in draft pretty tough. They are a good team and have proven that despite finishing the regular season in fifth. Once they get their opponent, likely 100 Thieves, expect them to push their way deeper into the bracket.
Beating TSM has to count for something, even if TSM were not at their best. That win helped EG make their final push into playoffs and that in itself is definitely an accomplishment. The problem is that when looking at how they performed at the beginning of the Split and the Lock In compared to now, it is hard to say EG will be much of a threat. Too many of their players are making bad mistakes resulting in them having the third most deaths in the LCS with only GG and CLG having more. They have to clean things up if they want any shot at TSM or TL.
The fall from grace for 100 Thieves was swift. After looking like a contender they lost to every team above them in these rankings except for Dignitas during the second round-robin. Because of that, they are now having to be the warmup series for C9 which is an unenviable position to be in. For 100 Thieves to have a chance they need to place all their eggs in the FBI basket and hope he carries them. Should they lose, which they likely will, then 100 Thieves will get a chance at Dignitas who are the only team in the top six that they have a 2-0 record against from the regular season.
Having the five-man lineup they had been planning on proved to be a major difference-maker for CLG. They finished the regular season strong with wins over C9, TL and EG. Now they get a long break to practice and prepare for their run in the Summer. With the Spring Split record carrying over, CLG currently sit one game behind FlyQuest for what would be the final Summer Playoff spot.
Immortals fell to their biggest weakness in week six, being unable to beat the top teams. They were able to take care of business against the bottom-tier teams but that was not enough. The break should give them a chance to regroup and figure out what changes need to be made in order to be more than just the gatekeepers to the top of the ladder.
A thrown game against Dignitas to end the Spring was not the way FlyQuest wanted to end the first half of 2021. They head into the break barely hanging on to the last spot for Summer Playoffs which is surely not where they want to be. Style differences definitely played a role in their lack of wins but hopefully, the experience gained for the younger players will be enough to see improvement during the Summer.
Not much can be said about Golden Guardians other than they struggled mightily throughout the season. There were glimpses of hope at times but overall it was a tough Spring. Now they will have to decide if the young-guns showed enough to deserve to continue developing or not. Changes will likely be made over the break and it will be worth watching who gets that chance to compete in the Summer.
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